*Note: The end point of the Pliocene and the beginning of the Pleistocene was officially set to the start of the Gelasian Age, 2.588 million years ago, on 29 June 2009 (see ICS forum).
North America, Pliocene, 3 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America during the Pliocene
Central America and the Gulf region during the Pliocene
Pliocene, Palæos
Pliocene, Wikipedia
The Pliocene Epoch, University of California Museum of Paleontology
A quick background to the Pliocene, Jonathan Adams, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The calm before the storm, Pliocene Epoch, Daniel Bensen and Brian Choo
Geologic Time Table, Seafriends
See general sources above.
Middle Pliocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction, U.S. Geological Survey
The Climate of the Pliocene: Simulating Earth's Last Great Warm Period, NASA
Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America, Department of Geoscience, The University of Iowa
Evolving Toward Humans, HowCom YouCom
Hominid Species Timeline, World Civilizations, Washington State University
Fossil Hominids: The Evidence for Human Evolution, including: Hominid Species and Hominid Fossils, Jim Foley
Pliocene Flora, Fauna, Wikipedia
Pliocene animals category, Wikipedia
Life in the Pliocene, Smithsonsian National Museum of Natural History
Pliocene Epoch, Deep Time, Evolution, PBS
The Isthmus of Panama rises and connects North America and South America. Animals from the two continents begin to migrate north and south. In the late Pliocene a large number of mammals were migrating in what is known as the Great American Interchange.
For most of the Pliocene the climate is similar to the present, though possibly warmer at the beginning of the epoch. However, the closure of the seaway between North America and South America causes the Atlantic Ocean to cool. Global temperatures continue to drop.
The Arctic ice cap forms. Glaciers begin to form in mid-latitudes at the end of the Pliocene.
Cooling global temperatures, changing ocean currents, the uplift of mountain ranges, and the formation of ice sheets and glaciers cause conditions in many areas to become dry. Arid regions, grasslands, and savannahs replace forests.
The Baja California peninsula begins to rift away from the North American mainland and move northwest at the beginning of the Pliocene. The Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) begins to form.
During the Pliocene India continues to move north into Asia, and the Himalayas and surrounding mountains continue to rise higher. All European and Middle East mountain ranges continue to rise and fold as part of the Alpine orogeny which began in the Eocene Epoch.
The Sierra Nevada of California, which began faulting and lifting in the Miocene, are lifted high during the Pliocene. They tilt west and erosion from rivers increases the formation of waterfalls and hanging valleys. The Cascade Range and other coastal mountains also rise during Pliocene.
Hominina (human species) first appear in the Pliocene. The first of these was Australopithecus that appeared after 4 Ma. Other human genera that lived in the Pliocene include Paranthropus, Ardipithecus, and Kenyanthropus. The first Homo species, Homo habilis, appeared around 2.5 Ma.
© 2009, Mr. Varner.
